Freight traffic between mainland Russia and the exclave of Kaliningrad, which bordered Lithuania, resumed this week, as the first train was undergoing checks on July 26.
“Yesterday, the first train set to cross the territory of Lithuania arrived,” Kotryna Dzikaraite, a spokeswoman for Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG), said.
A spokeswoman for the Customs Department says the train is transporting cement from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad, although it was still undergoing checks on July 26 and had not been allowed to enter Lithuania yet.
“A five-wagon cement shipment from Russia to Kaliningrad is now being checked at Kena border post. The train is still at the post, as the key check procedures are underway,” Lina Laurinaityte-Grigiene said.
On July 22, LTG notified its customers about the transportation of transit freight in line with the EC’s recently updated guidance.
On July 13, the EC issued new guidance, saying Russia can transport sanctioned goods to and from the Kaliningrad region via Lithuania only for the needs of this exclave and only by rail.
The Lithuanian government’s commission on the coordination of international sanctions has given recommendations to the Ministry of Transport, the Customs Department and LTG how the transit of these goods should be controlled.
“The total average quantity calculated on the basis of the 2019-2021 average is 3.1 million tons. The list includes several hundred commodity codes under the EU regulation, and their quantities will be calculated specifically when applications are received,” Dzikaraite said.
In spring, the EU banned the movement of some Russian goods via the EU territory under several separate sanction packages.
The EU’s ban on transporting Russian steel and ferrous metals via the bloc’s territory came into effect on June 17 and the one on cement, alcohol, wood, glass, aluminum, paper products, gypsum and ship parts on July 10.
Lithuania suspended the transit of these goods to Kaliningrad and said it did so in line with the EC’s prior guidance that banned transit.
Earlier this month, however, the EC issued its updated guidance, following Russia’s protestations over the transit restrictions and threats to retaliate. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
